I have a customer who has several cedars planted last year in the same row are some other pines. All the cedars are yellowing/brown. These are by the irrigation main valves (big farm) and there is standing water there some times but not in the trees. The pines are fine and look good. What is going on witht he cedars?

I've so enjoyed reading through this tread. My thanks to all who contributed and who take time to plant for the wildlife. Sherry, couldn't help but relate to your story regarding your blackberry canes. I, too, have been fighting the spread of Blackberry canes. I don't know if they were planted by the prior owner or by the neighbor behind me but even with me cutting each cane over and over during the growing season, they had spread so badly they were even beginning to show up all over my small grassy area in the backyard, not to mention the garden beds. Strong canes with terrible thorns that catch at fabric and skin, no matter how carefully the canes are handled. Last year I could see I was losing the battle so I purchased brush killer and carefully sprayed in the spring with the first spring flush of growth, everywhere I could spray without hitting other plants (I used a tall hollow cone to try and contain the spray to each cane). I managed to set back the growth somewhat but couldn't eliminate everything and managed to also kill spots in my lawn. Didn't want to attempt that process again but with this spring's blackberry cane again sprouting all over, I decided to try something new. I cut each growing cane I could reach down to about 6 inches above ground, soaked a cotton ball in full strength brush killer, placed the cotton ball on top of the fresh cut, covered it with a plastic sandwich baggie and used a rubber band to hold all in place. I am proud to say the cane's are dying, even the ones growing up into my neighbors flower beds, where I couldn't place cotton balls. I'm hopeful that with a season of doing this, I can get rid of the underground roots that spread so far and wide. Blackberries are wonderful but for a small city lot, some can be terribly invasive and destructive. Of course, I would not place these covered, soaked cotton balls in an area where pets or small animals might roam. I don't know if wild animals would sense the danger but I doubt if domesticated pets would know to leave them alone. I've wondered if an inverted flower pot placed over each cut cane, with a heavy rock on top, would be enough of a deterrent to keep animals from investigating? My hope is this season will see the end of the blackberry canes on my property! :-) Mary

I don't know of anything specific to this species, so I looked up issues with yellow foliage on the genus in general. I found mention of Juniper blight and Juniper scale (which you already checked for). Other than those two issues and any watering issues, I don't have any more ideas on what this could be. Well could also tug gently upward on the stem to see if any voles might have eaten away the roots. And poke your finger into the soil around it and then compare how the moisture feels in the area around the one that is still good. Here is a link that might be useful: Juniper issues

I have seen them do this and they usually come out of it after a year or two. I pay it no mind as I'm too busy to be bothered by it and didn't know what to do. Not sure the cause. Will be interested if someone can identify the exact problem.